Patients that suffer from joint disorders often undergo arthrodesis to compress adjacent bones against one another to fixate them for fusion. Joint disorders, such as arthritis in the joints of digits, can be extremely painful. A common procedure to alleviate pain in such patients is to fixate the joint for fusion by arthrodesis. There are a number of arthrodesis techniques that promote fusion of adjacent bones of a digit (e.g., finger or toe). Historically, these techniques utilize a bone screw that draws the adjacent bones together in at a 180 degree angle. The digit then fuses at the joint in a fully-extended orientation.
This fully-extended orientation of the digit in conventional arthrodesis techniques weakens grip strength and is often not esthetically pleasing to the patient. For example, the grip strength of the hand increases when the fingers can oppose each other as the hand grasps an object. If a finger is extended, it cannot properly oppose the other fingers to grasp the object, stabilize the object in the hand, or exert as much force on the object. Moreover, the digits of a human hand rest in a flexed position; therefore, a digit that is fused in an extended position looks abnormal and is not esthetically pleasing.
Accordingly, it would be an advantage to provide a joint assembly that overcomes the disadvantages of previous technology.